Pets mourn deceased 'buddies'

Sunday

May 31, 2009 at 12:01 AM

Do animals grieve when their owner or another member of the herd dies?

Brian J. Lowney

Do animals grieve when their owner or another member of the herd dies?

Last fall, when my cat Sugar suddenly disappeared, my other feline, Daisy, shrieked incessantly for days until I discovered the Sugar's lifeless body hidden under a bush in a remote section of my backyard.

Once Sugar was buried, her feline housemate gradually returned to a normal routine, but still made daily trips out to the backyard to visit her friend's grave.

Most animal behaviorists and trainers agree that the majority of cats and dogs, like their human counterparts, each experience grief in their own way for varying periods of time. Some pets are sad for only a few days, while others sink into a deep depression that can last for several weeks or longer.

Respected pug breeder and exhibitor Alan Alford says he has found a canine will mourn the loss of a special buddy in multi-dog households.

"In my experience, dogs frequently grieve the loss of a 'friend,'" Alford tells. "I've watched some of my dogs over the years that have bonded with another pet — sharing food and sharing toys with that specific individual dog, while never permitting some other member of the 'family' to participate."

Alford adds that some dogs, like humans, become blue when a loved one dies.

"I've also witnessed dogs go into a depressed state when that special friend dies," he continues. "The first day or two the grieving pet just wanders around looking for his 'buddy.' By the end of the second day, the dog stops searching and just mopes around, and refuses food, play and toys."

The well-known toy dog authority says that it takes most dogs about a week "to return to normal" and start enjoying life again.

"There's no question in my mind that these dogs have just passed through a grieving state over the departure of their mate," Alford emphasizes.

Marsha Pugh, a noted writer and animal expert, states that herd animals, such as horses, cows and sheep, form family bonds and grieve over the loss of a loved one.

"In their natural world, they would live in large family groups," she wrote in an e-mail from her Maryland home.

"If a horse is sold away from the group, the rest will whinny and neigh for weeks afterward," she says. "It's very traumatic to change the herd dynamic."

Pugh recalls that she had heard that elephants grieve if they can't mourn the passing of one of their herdmates, so when one of her own horses died, she decided to conduct an experiment.

"When my oldest mare died, I allowed the others to see her, sniff her body and realize that she has died, not just disappeared," she writes.

Pugh notes that the mare's daughter, Dolly, was brought out of the barn to witness the event.

"She stood over her mother until the heavy equipment came to move the body, dig her burial spot and bring her down to the site," Pugh continues. "Dolly followed the backhoe and waited patiently, standing guard until her mother was completely covered and the equipment left. From that day forward, when she was let out of her stall in the morning, the first place Dolly would go was to her mother's grave and stand over it for a few moments before moving on to graze. She is now buried alongside her mother."

Pugh reveals that cows also grieve.

"I saw my neighbor's cow give birth to a premature calf," she recalls. "It didn't live long, less than an hour. As the mother stood over her baby, trying to nudge it back to life, all the other cows gathered around. Then they formed a line and each cow walked by, gently touching the dead calf and then moved on. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen."

Pugh remembers that the cows also comforted the mother by gently nudging her and remaining with the grieving animal for the rest of the day.

"Years later, when that same farmer's horse died and was being buried, all the cows that had been laying in the cool shade under the trees all stood up and watched the burial. It was almost like they were paying respect to the dead," she adds.

The well-known animal authority advises owners to allow their other equines to see the deceased horse before it's removed or buried, because animals understand death and need to mourn the passing.

"Unfortunately, I have had to use my own advice more often than I cared to," she concludes. "Being that their lifespan is 30 years or more, you develop a close relationship with them and it's devastating when they die."

Swansea resident Brian J. Lowney has been writing about pets for more than a decade. He is a past president of the Wampanoag Kennel Club, an active dog show judge and shares his home with two shelter-adopted cats. All of Brian's columns are available online in our new pet section. Visit http://pets.SouthCoastToday.com